Ha! You thought that Department of Justice approval was the finish line for the long, drawn out satellite radio merger? Well, it wasn't, but the end is getting closer as Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin is reportedly officially backing the merger. There were also some interesting concessions made by the companies to keep things moving along.

Although rumors have been running rampant since this morning, it's now official — they'll …
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1. The company(s) would need to freeze prices for three years. 2. "A la carte" options would need to be available within three months of the merger. 3. 8% of their airspace (24 channels) would need to be dedicated to noncommercial and minority programming.

The backing by Martin and the stipulation that the merger would have to be enacted within three months (or at least the a la carte programming component) is so far great news for consumers. More as the long, slow slog toward satellite radio supremacy continues. [NYT via Giz]